Flex - Step shoes

Discussion in 'General Discussions' started by Jack Evers, Oct 18, 2014.

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    Jack Evers Active Member

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    As long as we're discussing failed shoes, who has used these? Apparently made of a synthetic rubber rather than a plastic or urethane, they were quite flexible and gave way too much traction on rock or pavement. On an endurance horse you'd need to drive a couple nails in the toe area or the shoe would fold back and start building up gravel between the shoe and the foot. Then with the excess traction a horse coming down mountain grades was apt to get toe bruising from the toe nails trying to move backwards. They ran about $17 a pair in the 80's. Last I saw was at convention perhaps 10 years ago. A booth had a box of misc sizes and styles marked $1.00 a pair. I bought several pair for some pasture ornaments that could get along with them. The young man selling them to me just grinned and said "My Daddy will be so proud of me - I sold some flex steps."
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    ray steele Administrator

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    Jack,

    they might have been a flop in your country but they were quite a hit on the standard bred tracks, enough so that Charlie Guimarra of Stephentown Ny , and a pretty large east coast supplier, copied the patterns and injection molded them ,sizes 3,4,and 5 front and hind. he sold boat loads of them. flex step was out of Michigan, I think, Gale,Brian Robertson country,standardbred country.

    I inherited those molds when I bought Horseshoes unlimited in 1990 and i ve sold a fair # of them ,to the point that i was approached by another molder in the mid 1990 s about selling the molds. Probably should have, that was a time when most Standardbreds were set up with light blue rim pads in front, I could never convince farriers that a light blue, black or red pad was the same, even letting them know that the material came out of the same box, just the colorant got changed. I even had a vet demand blue pads for a horse fix, I had made some much harder blue pads to demonstrate but he was convinced that the blue pads had more cushion.

    Ray
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    Jack Evers Active Member

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    Well, Ray, the complaints I had wouldn't be a problem on a track. The regional distributor here was a hard core endurance rider and had a stable at the foot of the front range catering to endurance people. It was one of my larger accounts and needless to say I put a bunch of them on at that stable. Most of the users tho had to go to steel before the season was over, because the walls were breaking up.
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    ray steele Administrator

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    Jack,

    Did you notice much "sweat"" between the hooves and the plastic shoes?

    As to your "seattle shoe " system, I did what i think was a similar set up, still do for laminitis at times , where i fit a steel shoe to the hoof, drill and tap in the four corners, drill and countersink a plastic shoe or thick pad and bolt to the steel, add or subtract frog pressure, angle changes with a screw driver since the steel stayed in place
    For awhile was shoeing a driving horse that was doing movies, this guy was a goer, always looking to see what was on the other side of the hill, problem was ,that after 5 or 6 takes moving right out on smooth blacktop when he crested the hill he would begin to slip and loose his drive for the progressive takes. Set him up with the bolt up Flex Step clones and he loved them cushion,grip, glide, .....they had to dub the "clip clop sound into the scenes! Horses name was"Smitty", little Morgan with a goin attitude. Actually won the driving classes at New England Morgan Show but his owner spent some time spaining the shoeing set up.

    I look forward to see the Seattle Shoe post,wherever it show up.

    Thanks

    Ray
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    Jack Evers Active Member

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    I asked and received Ray's permission before posting this since it references another forum. This has to do with the Seattle Shoe.
    Ray, since I can't seem to post pictures of the Seattle Shoe here, I can supply a conversation on another forum that does. Just wanted to clear it with you before I did. http://horseshoes.com/index.php/for...hoes-rigs-equipment-tools/220935-seattle-shoe. by the way "clearthinkinggone is Mike Allen. The story there was that Barrie Grant was a vet at Washington Univ, where the Seattle shoe was developed, His brother, Danny Grant was the endurance rider and test pilot and Olin Balch, now a vet, but then a farrier was the installer. Thoroughbred made the plates for it. They had made special plates and gotten thru the 1988 (100 mountain miles) Race of Champions, but wanted to prove a standard plate could do it. At the 1989 ROC, they were running out of plates and I replaced the front Seattle Shoes on Danny's horse with Coxtons to get him thru. Delrin is the material of the "blade runners" blades" Yep, I can't see it as too much different than the "Clog" for a laminitic horse.

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